Here’s an important lesson. Let’s say you only have enough money to send out a one-shot mailing to a list of 6,000 prospects or you can send a mailing 3x to 2,000 of those prospects — what are you better off doing?
Beyond a doubt you’ll see much greater success from using a series of letters.
Here’s why: A recent study conducted by Sales and Marketing Executives International concluded that 81% of major sales are closed after the fifth contact.
That’s right, Eighty-one percent!
So if you’re not making that kind of effort, it’s safe to say you’re missing out on lots of revenue you should be getting simply because of lack of persistence.
Let me give you an example from my business that sells specialized marketing information to cosmetic surgeons. I sell a marketing manual to help doctors attract more cosmetic patients and I consistently get an astounding 11%-15% response rate to my sales letter. So what’s my secret?
The secret is constantly following-up.
Once a prospect has raised their hand and said they are interested I send them the first sales letter and info packet. Now if 3 weeks go by and I still haven’t received an order — off goes their 2nd notice.
Then if they still don’t order after another 10 days, they get their 3rd and final notice.
Here are the actual numbers: From this first letter I only get about 5% - 6% response. And the 2nd and 3rd mailing get the another 5%-7% response.
So if I stopped at just one mailing I would be leaving more than half of my profit on the table. Did you catch that? I’d be losing more than half of my revenue only because I didn’t follow-up. And I’d bet it’s the same for you but you just don’t know it.
Most people that try direct mail only use a one-shot mailing. It is much more difficult to make a oneshot mailing work, especially to a cold list. That’s why there is a 2nd notice instant sales letter template for attracting new clients. It’s important that you use this 2nd letter. And in fact, it’s not unusual to get a greater response on your second letter. You should send out your second notice about 2-3 weeks after the first sales letter has gone out.
There are a lot of people who wanted to respond but just never got around to it for whatever reason. Somehow your letter gets tossed aside or under their ever growing stack of mail, bills, etc. So when your second notice comes reminding them of an impending expiration date — it will jog their memory and get the action you wanted.